Jailbreak

Cydia

For many iOS device users, broken buttons cause a lot of issues. It can be even worse when your power button ends up busted and you have trouble putting your device to sleep and locking it. A new free jailbreak tweak dubbed SpotLock by iOS developer Lays will allow you to put your iOS device into sleep mode and lock it by simply swiping over to SpotLight. SpotLock offers a neat little modification even for those with perfectly functional buttons. For a handful of iOS users, this feature wonít get in the way because SpotLight isnít very widely used anymore.

Anything that gives the SpotLight added functionality is always welcome to the jailbreaking world since the feature is rarely used. If you prefer using the buttons to put your device to sleep and lock it, then SpotLock probably isnít for you. Additionally, since the modification replaces SpotLight entirely, you wonít want to install this tweak if you use SpotLight on a regular basis.

As soon as you swipe over to SpotLight and release your finger from the screen, the device screen goes black and turning on the screen again shows the lock screen. There are no options to configure and there are no icons added to the home screen for this tweak. Once you install it, the tweak takes effect immediately and you will have to uninstall it to disable it.

The tweak works well for getting your device locked, however if you have fully functional buttons, theyíre probably more practical to use since you can use them anywhere. This tweak requires that you be on the home screen to swipe over to SpotLight. Another alternative for people with broken buttons is to use Appleís auto-lock feature so the device goes to sleep and locks automatically when left alone for a period of time.

While new tweaks are always welcome, i think activator does a fine job in the broken button scenario. I don't currently have any broken buttons but i have activator setup to lock with a swipe from the upper left corner of the status bar and that combined with Zephyr is a sweet combo. I rarely use the home or power buttons with this setup.